Automatic horse-check



(No Model.)

MEDART'.- AUTOMATIC HORSE CHECK.

Patented Dec. 29, 1885.

fies 04% Wi N FEYEHS. Phato-Lmwgnphar, Wamington. DJ}.

.lNITED STATES MARTIN MEDART, OF BELLEVILLE, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC HORSE-CHECK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 333,421, dated December 29, 1885.

Application filed July 3. 1885. Serial No. 170,662. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MARTIN MEDART, a resident of Belleville, Illinois, and a citizen of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Horse Checks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the annexed drawings and letters of reference marked thereon.

The object of my invention is to provide a vehicle with an automatic check to hold the lines of the team, operating so as to pull back on the lines when the team starts ahead, thus stoppingthem before they get under headway.

It conslsts in providing the hub of the wheel with a series of projections, and the axle with a rack and a lever, to the long end of which lever maybe hung the lines, and the short end of whlch is operated upon by the projections on the hub of the wheel whenit moves forward in such manner as to draw back the long end of the lever, and thus check the forward movement of the team.

It also consists in making said lever an extension-lever, so that when not in use it can be shortened, and be thus out of the way.

Figure 1 in the drawings is an inside elevation view of my lever when shortened and not in use, showing the lever attached to a section of the axle, the inside of the hub of the vehicle, the projections on the hub, and the lever at rest and clearing the projections of the hub. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the lever, hub, .xle, and projections on the hub, and shows the lever at full length and ready for use. Fig. 3 is an outside elevation of my lever with the lines attached and in use. The dotted lines show the position of the lever when the team has advanced. Fig. 4 shows an inside elevation of my lever with lines attached and lever in use, and serves to illustrate the position of the lower part or jaw of the lever, when the team is backing, when the lever is set for use.

Rin the drawings is a rack made fast to the axle near the hub by any of the ordinary methods of fastening, and serves to support the lever L and forma fulcrum for the same, to which the lever is attached by an appropriate joint at or near the top of the rack. This lever is provided at its lower end with a jaw, J, which engages the projections PP P on the hub, and

serves to carry the lower end of the lever forward and the upper end backward when the team moves forward, but which will yield and allow the projections P P P to pass without moving the lever when the team is backing while the lever is set. This jaw J is attached to the lower part of the lever by an ordinary pin-joint, and is held from moving to the front by the pin f, engaging the shoulder on the jaw, and is held in position on the lever by the spring S, which is an ordinary spring attached to the lever at one end and having the other end resting on the shoulder of the jaw J.

H is the lever-handle, and is held .to the lever L by appropriate bands, which will permit it to slide up and down on said lever. It is provided at its lower end with a recess, T, which drops over a pin, V, on the lever when the handle is extended or pulled out to lengthen the lever. This recess is held down on said pin V by the spring S, which is an ordinary spring, with one end fastened to the lever L, and the other pressing and sliding on the handle H. This handle H is provided at its upper end with an ordinary hook, h, suitably made to hold the lines of the team. When thelever L is disengaged and not in use, this handle H is shoved down and pulled back, so that it will enter in behind the shoulder O on the rack R, which is an ordinary shoulder on the top of the rack R, and serves to hold the lever down out of the way when it is not in use.

P P P are projections fastened to the inside of the hub, and are made long enough to engage the jaw J as the wheel revolves when the lever is set.

WV is a shoulder on the lower end of the lever L, and engages a corresponding shoulder on the rack B, and serves to prevent the lever from falling too far forward when the lever is set for use. A is the hub, and B is the axle.

It is obvious from the above explanation that when the lever-handle H is pulled out, and the lever set as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, and the lines are attached to the hook at the top, if the team begins to advance the projections P P P will engagethe jaw J, and as the wheel continues to revolve the long end of the lever will be pulled back and the lines drawn on the team and the horses checked, in which case the lever will assume the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 3. If, on the other hand, the team begins to back while the lever is set, the projections P P P will engage the jaw J, will throw it back and pass it, as seen in Fig. 4, without interfering with the position of the lever.

Now, what I claim, and for which I ask Letters Patent of the United States to be granted me, 1s

1. An automatic horse check for a vehicle, consisting of a rack, R, jaw J, lever L, handle H, and projections P P P, substantially as above described.

2. In an automatic horse-check, the handle H, with its recess T and spring S, in combination with the lever L, operating to extend the lever L when it is set for use, and to shorten it when it is not set for use.

3 In an automatic horse-check, the jaw J,

attached to the lower end of the lever L, and beingprovided with the spring S and pin f, in combination with said lever L, operating to allow the projections P P P to pass when the vehicle is backed and when the lever is set.

4. In an automatic horse'check, the shoulder 0 on the rack R, in combination with the handle H and the lever L, all operating to hold the lever L in position, so when the lever is not set the jaw J will set free of the projections P P P and allow the wheel to revolve without contact.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, on this 22d day of June, 1885, at St. Louis,

Missouri.

MARTIN MEDART. Witnesses:

WM. M. EGCLES, F. BERH'IOLD. 

